No one in the music industry has had a bigger 2015 than Canadian R&B/pop act The Weeknd. He's had a trio of megahits in "Earned It", "Can't Feel My Face" and "The Hills", and his new album Beauty Behind the Madness, became his first ever number one debut on the Billboard 200 chart and picked up a gold certification (500,000 sales) from the RIAA less than two months after its initial release. The Weeknd is wrapping up his stellar 2015 in the most fitting way possible: hitting the road with longtime friends Travi$ Scott and Banks for a massive North American headlining tour. This star-studded tour package -appropriately dubbed "The Madness tour"- rolled into the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts last night and managed to be a night full of fantastic performances from three of the fastest rising artists on the planet right now.
Travi$ Scott got thing started promptly at the scheduled 7:30 start time. After experiencing the lip-synching trainwreck that is Rae Sremmurd live a couple of weeks ago, I was kind of paranoid that the AutoTune-loving Scott was going to pull off something similar. Thankfully Scott didn't share Rae Sremmurd's laziness and actually perfromed his material live. He certainly wasn't perfect (he stumbled on a dozen or so lines during his half-hour set), but at least he was putting in the effort to actually rap and not just jamming out to his backing tracks like a moron. What Scott lacks for in precision he makes up for with stage presence. Scott is a bona fide showman with a flare for getting a crowd from 0-to-100 in mere seconds and love of jumping off of anything that's surrounding him on stage. I'm willing to bet that his headlining shows in the far-less-restrictive setting of a club venue are completely fucking insane. Scott's show nicely set the tone for a really fun night and I would happily go see him again in the future.
Direct support act and The Weeknd's frequent touring partner, Banks, was up next. Like The Weeknd, Banks is a powerhouse vocalist who makes dark, atmospheric R&B that's packed with raw emotion and vulnerability. Despite some issues with the sound mix and the overwhelming production on a few of her songs ("Fuck Em Only We Know", "Drowning", "Beggin for Thread") muddling her vocals, Banks' live show was really impressive. The opening 1/2 punch of "Alibi" and "This is What It Feels Like" was a spectacular showcase for her immense vocal talent. The range and sheer power of her vocals on these tracks left me in chills. The rest of the set failed to match the heights of the opening tracks, but she still sounded great as she ripped through most of the choice cuts from her 2014 breakout debut album Goddess. While Banks left a positive impression on me, a majority of the crowd didn't share my enthusiasm. I don't know if it was because of her reserved stage presence or the melancholy nature of her music, but the room was basically dead the entire time she performed. Banks' stoic stage presence and lack of crowd interaction will surely turn some people off, but for fans of hers who don't demand a riveting stage show, the strength of her vocals make her live show well worth experiencing.
The Weeknd took his sweet-ass time getting to the stage, starting his set nearly 45 minutes after Banks finished her set. That being said, the long wait proved to be well worth it as The Weeknd came out and killed it for the duration of his nearly 2-hour set. With the exception of some pyro during "The Hills" and the "King of the Fall"/"Crew Love"/"Or Nah"/"Professional" medley, his setup was pretty low-key for an arena show. I've seen a lot of artists go overboard with stage production when they first blow up, so it was cool to see someone go relatively light on theatrics on their first-ever full North American tour in 10,000+ capacity venues. Instead, The Weeknd opted to let his voice serve as the centerpiece of his show and when you have as much as talent as he has, that's all you need. I had unfairly high expectations for The Weeknd's vocal performance coming into the show based on the quality of his albums and various live videos I've seen over the years and he still managed to blow them away. There wasn't even a single note where he fell flat and the vocals on an overwhelming majority of the songs managed to exceed the studio recordings. There is no doubt in my mind that The Weeknd's vocals performance is one of, if not the strongest live vocal performance I've ever seen. While his vocals impressed the hell of me, the most endearing aspect of The Weeknd's show was how willing he was to stray from the studio material. About 75% of the songs he played on the night featured some kind of prominent variation from the studio version. The decisions to perform nearly a capella versions of "Earned It" and "Wicked Games", a downtempo version of "In the Night" using the first verse of "D.D" as an intro and to sing the rapped verse on "House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls" were particularly brilliant and led to some of the most special single-song performances I've ever seen live. My only serious complaint was the he didn't play any of his older songs (with the notable exception of "Wicked Games") all the way through. While he played enough of the songs for them to still be satisfying, it was kind of aggravating that he cut all of the material from House of Balloons-which I consider to be his best work to-date-and Thursday short by a full minute or so when he didn't do the same with any of the new material that didn't feature guest verses. The Weeknd's live show reaffirms why he is one of the most gifted musicians of his generation and the undisputed torchbearer for modern pop music. If you're even a casual fan of his work and this tour is coming to your city, you need to go out and buy tickets IMMEDIATELY.
Side Notes:
-The Weeknd played Beauty Behind the Madness in its entirety. A majority of it was great, but the trio of filler tracks ("Angel", "Dark Times", "As You Are") were still dull as hell live.
-The Weeknd cutting his performance of "The Morning" off right before the "Ain't the type a girl you'll be seeing in the morning" part after the second chorus made me really sad.
-The Weeknd gave multiple extended shoutouts to his band during his set (I'm well aware I'm lame as hell for thinking that's cool).
-After seeing it up close, I can now confirm that The Weeknd's hair is the eight wonder of the world.
-Banks is fucking gorgeous in person.
-Props to Travi$ Scott for being the only act on the bill to address the crowd as Worcester and not Boston.
Scores:
Travi$ Scott 7.5/10
Banks 8/10
The Weeknd 9/10
Setlists:
Travi$ Scott:
Pornography
Pray 4 Love
Mamacita
Don't Play
Upper Echelon
90210
Drugs You Should Try It
Oh My Dis Side
3500
Antidote
Banks:
Alibi
This is What It Feels Like
Brain
Goddess
Fuck Em Only We Know
Drowning
Waiting Game
Beggin for Thread
The Weeknd:
Real Life
Losers
Acquainted
Often
High for This
The Party & The After Party
King of the Fall/Crew Love(Drake cover)/Or Nah (Ty Dolla $ign cover)/Professional
The Morning
House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls
Tell Your Friends
The Birds Part 1
Shameless
Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)
Dark Times
As You Are
Angel
D.D./In the Night
Prisoner
The Hills
Encore:
Wicked Games
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